Use of rural and suburban mailboxes of the standard horizontal type stimulated the conception and development of mailbox accessories which enabled the user of the mailbox to withdraw mail from said box with increased ease. These prior art accessories have typically been slidably mounted within the mailbox and have included mechanical linkages operatively connecting the slidable accessory to the door of the box so that the same would move outwardly as the door opened. These prior art mailbox accessories have met with limited acceptance due not only to the general complexity thereof but also to the fact that the standard rural mailbox is of a size relative both to the usual types of mail and to the hand of a user that difficulty in removing mail from such boxes is not typically encountered. The following U.S. patents disclose typical developments in this field: U.S. Pat. Nos:
741,489 -- Oct. 13, 1903 -- Hamilton, et al. PA1 1,139,491 -- May 18, 1915 -- Coon PA1 1,471,899 -- Oct. 23, 1923 -- Koenig PA1 1,879,200 -- Sep. 27, 1932 -- Grimm PA1 2,781,964 -- Feb. 19, 1957 -- Ledgerwood PA1 2,868,444 -- Jan. 13, 1959 -- Whittier PA1 3,163,356 -- Dec. 29, 1964 -- Joehnk PA1 3,606,140 -- Sep. 20, 1971 -- Shannahan.
However, in recent years, the proliferation of clusters or banks of relatively smaller "post office box" sized mail receptacles has rendered more common the real problem facing users of such mail receptacles of extraction of mail from such receptacles. Space limitations in post offices, apartment buildings, commercial office buildings, and the like, have resulted in the use of individual mail receptacles which are much smaller volumetrically than the standard rural mailbox. Further, these smaller mail receptacles have openings through which the mail is extracted which are smaller relative to the usual types of mail and smaller relative to the size of the hand. Therefore, extraction of mail from such mail receptacles, especially for individuals suffering from arthritis or similar debilitating condition, is extremely difficult and at times impossibe. Such receptacles with which the invention is particularly useful often have an access opening area of less than 20 square inches.
The present invention provides apparatus useful with mailbox units of all types, but particularly with the relatively small mailbox receptacles which comprise the clusters or banks of mailbox units commonly encountered in urban and suburban living and working situations. In particular, the present invention can preferably take the form of a mailbox insert or liner which is fitted into the individual receptacle, the exterior walls of the liner fitting flushly to the interior walls of the receptacle. The floor of the liner is grooved longitudinally and receives within said groove a bar-like slide having a handle member formed on the anterior end and a lateral bar-like scoop member formed on the posterior end thereof. The handle member is adapted to be grasped by a user at the opening of the receptacle and pulled outwardly from the receptacle, the slide moving outwardly from the receptacle to withdraw mail disposed therein. The scoop member formed on the posterior end of the slide can be configured in various shapes to provide a desired surface area for engagement with rearward portions or the pieces of mail. In those receptacle clusters wherein mail or other items are loaded into the receptacles from the rear thereof, such as in post offices, and the like, the scoop member formed on the slide could not be provided with a laterally extending ledge or "scooping surface" which extended upwardly more than a minor fraction of the distance between the floor and roof of the receptacle. Otherwise, mail could not easily be inserted into the receptacle from the rear thereof. However, when the mail receptacles are to be loaded from the front thereof, the "scooping surface" of the scoop member can extend any desired distance between the floor and roof of the receptacle and can substantially cover the full sectional area of said receptacle to provide more positive engagement with the mail in the receptacle.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the invention to provide an insert or liner for a mail receptacle, which liner is fitted with a slide in the floor thereof for withdrawal of mail from the receptacle.
It is another object of the invention to provide a slide apparatus in the floor of a mailbox unit or in the floor of a liner for a mail receptacle, which slide apparatus is adapted to be grasped at the anterior end thereof and is adapted to engage mail pieces at the posterior end thereof for facilitating withdrawal of mail from the mailbox unit.
These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.